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One morning in late fall, behind the stone house on Stony Ridge Road, in a remote and quiet woodland in northern Canada, a family of Peregrine Falcons awaken. There scientific name is the Falco Peregrinus which also means “wanderer.� The male Peregrine Falcon flies out to find some food. He weighs 1 to 3 pounds which helps him fly. He is also 13 to 20 inches tall. All Peregrine Falcons have a thirdFeyelid to help moisturize the eyes and keep them clean.
There is a male, a female and a baby that is just learning to fly. When the baby was born he was covered by white downs. In three weeks his white down had been replaced by brown feathers. Their habitat is in a grassland but most Peregrine Falcons live in cliffs and in high environments.
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Soon the Falcon family will start their yearly migration. Peregrine Falcons have one of the farthest bird migrations and they are one of the most widely distributed bird species in the world. When they start their migration from northern Canada, they will end up somewhere around Charlotte, North Carolina. Q
The next day, the birds start the there journey. They fly until they have reached the U.S. border. They stop to stay in a tree but a family of Golden Eagles have already been living in this same tree. This will not go well as the Falcon’s predators are the Golden Eagle and Great Horned Owls. W
The Golden Eagles attack, forcing the Falcons to search for another tree. They are spotted flying across the sky as they cross the U.S.border.
When they stop in Buffalo, New York, some people tag the birds so others may follow them. When the male is tagged he lets out a cry that sounds like a screeching laugh.
When they leave Buffalo, they fly to Pittsburgh where they stop and rest because they are hungry. The male flies high into the sky to look for food. He spies a fat pigeon with his keen eyes. The Peregrine Falcon’s favorite food is any species of bird.
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The male Falcon flies at 200 miles per hour to kill his lunch. The birds stay in Pittsburgh for a week. This is a big deal for the people of Pittsburgh because Peregrine Falcons used to be endangered
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When the male Falcon started the migration he was 16 years old. Most Peregrine Falcons live to be 17 years old. His family hopes they will finish their journey before he dies but they know that they will not have him for much longer.
When the Falcons resume their journey, the people of Pittsburgh give them a giant thank you and goodbye. Next they travel to Roanake, Virginia. This is the final rest stop before their final destination.
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Everybody is excited that the family of Peregrine Falcons have stopped in Roanoke. Three hunters here make a plan to kill the family of Peregrine Falcons. One night, they find out where the birds are sleeping and attack them. Since there are three hunters and three birds each hunter picks a bird.
Luckily, before the hunters shoot, the birds see them. They fly away right just as the hunters shoot. The hunters think they’ve missed the birds and they leave. In fact, the birds are badly injured.
Luckily a boy and his mom spot the birds lying on the ground in a park the next morning. They take the birds to the closest animal hospital. The doctor says it will be a hard recovery for the birds and will take about three weeks but it is possible.
The typical wingspan of a Peregrine Falcon is somewhere between 31 and 48 inches. After the shooting, the male’s wingspan shrank to 28 inches. The female’s crop which is something like a stomach and digests her food, was injured in the shooting. Also, the baby’s leg was shot.
The birds spend about two and a half weeks at the animal hospital in Richmond being prepared to finish their journey. The day finally comes when they are able to fly. They are ready to finish their trip.
Right after the birds finish their journey, the male dies. Luckily there is another male Peregrine Falcon in Charlotte. The new male and the female lay two eggs. R
Most Peregrine Falcon eggs are pale creamy to brown, dotted or splotchy with brown, red, or purple. The incubation period of a Falcon takes 29-32 days. After they’re born it will take 38-44 days before it is able to fly.
The people of Charlotte name the new male Falcon Gus, the female Jenel and the baby Jhon. After 6 months Jhon finds a mate. After 12 years of going from Canada, to Charlotte, and back to Canada when they are in Charlotte there is a ton of offspring.
Most of the babies have spread across the U.S., but some Peregrine Falcons have been spotted and Charlotte thinks they are Gus’s offspring. The winter is over and Gus and Jenel will travel to Canada, but next year they will return to Charlotte next year.